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Stop giving me gray hair. Now what’s this
guy’s name?”
    “Why so you can run him? Do you do a run on
all your one-night-stands?”
    “You’re not the one-night-stand type.”
    “I am tonight. I’ll call you when I get home
tomorrow. And tell Delia I’m gonna to kick her ass.” She hung up,
then powered her phone off.
    “Everything all right?” Raze adjusted his
position so that he was propped against pillows piled against the
headboard. Sprawled like that he was a sensual feast.
    God. He was just what she’d needed. What she
still needed.
    She tossed her phone back in her bag and
pulled his shirt over her head. “Everything’s great. And about to
get better.”

CHAPTER 5
     
    Raze looked at the video feed of a blackish
rose arrangement perched on Vash’s desk and pronounced,
“Creepy.”
    “They’re for you.” She pushed them aside.
“Salem found them on your porch about a half hour ago. No card, but
we know who it’s from, don’t we?”
    “Yeah, we do.”
    “She’s his wife, by the way. Of a couple
hundred years. Torque traced Baron—previously known as John
Schmidt, Baron Seagrave in his mortal life—back to the Regency
period, when he married Lady Francesca Harlow.”
    “Torque’s the man.”
    “Yes, he is. And you’re dealing with a woman
who just lost the love of her life.” Vash’s fingers drummed on the
table. “Take it from a woman who knows what that feels like: She
wants your head on a pike and your nuts roasting on an open fire.
She won’t let this go until one of you is dead.”
    “I’m ready and waiting.” He glanced out the
window at the gradually lightening dawn sky, then over at the
closed bedroom door. “But I might be waiting in the wrong place if
she’s gone to Raceport.”
    “Torque traced the roses back to a florist
in Chicago. If she did her homework at all, she’ll know you’re
hanging around there. But she doesn’t know where. She’s hoping
this’ll rattle your cage a little.”
    “I’ll get out more today. Be seen. I don’t
suppose we’d be lucky enough to have confirmation that the baroness
is the woman in the video. A photo match, maybe?”
    “Working on it.” Vash rocked back in her
desk chair. “Listen, I know you like to do your loner thing, but
I’d feel better if you had some backup.”
    “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got this.”
    “When I find the bastards who killed
Charron, an army isn’t going to save them. Hell hath no fury like a
woman whose mate has been stolen from her. You can’t understand.
You haven’t been there. You don’t know what you’re up against.”
    Raze’s hands fisted. “I’ve. Got. This.”
    “Fine.” She tossed up her hands. “Watch your
stubborn ass. I can’t afford to lose you.”
    She ended transmission, leaving him feeling
pissed off and resentful. He was sick of everyone acting like there
was an exclusive club that he was denied membership in.
    He moved back into the bedroom and slid
between the sheets, careful not to wake Kim, who slept soundly.
Lying face down with her hair fanned across her back and her face
turned toward him, she soothed his agitation without even trying.
He wasn’t used to having someone sleep over like this. Because he
didn’t need sleep himself, having a lover stay the night just
invited questions he couldn’t answer.
    Regardless, he wouldn’t have let Kim go home
even if she’d wanted to. He could tell himself it was because it
wasn’t safe for her to go out by herself at night. After all, the
last woman to leave his bed had found a dead body on the doorstep.
He could also tell himself it was because he hadn’t fed from her
yet, but then he’d have to examine why he’d held back. To create
just this excuse, maybe?
    Reaching out, he pushed her hair gently
aside and ran his fingertips up and down the graceful curve of her
spine. She was so slender and delicate, yet strong and lithe. Her
body had worked tirelessly through the night, taking what he gave
her and